John Pirro

Published 4:15 pm, Saturday, January 26, 2013

DANBURY -- For the past 17 months, Jose Arturo Dota, charged with fatally stabbing the mother of his two children in their Duck Street apartment, has been awaiting his day in court.

At the same time, the family of Natalie Ramirez, the woman Dota is accused of killing, have been waiting for justice to be done.

On Friday, both sides will find out how much longer they'll have to wait, when a judge sets a date for Dota's trial to begin in state Superior Court in Danbury.

Dota, a 33-year-old undocumented immigrant from Ecuador, and his lawyer, Phil Russell, have opted to have a three-judge panel hear the case, waiving Dota's right to a jury trial.

The panel is appointed by the chief court administrator in Hartford, and unlike a jury, the judges' decision doesn't have to be unanimous.

The starting date for testimony is contingent on the availability of the judges, said Assistant State's Attorney Colleen Zingaro, who said that judges will have to be brought in from other judicial districts for the duration of the trial.

Trial by a panel of judges is a strategy sometimes employed by the defense in cases where testimony is expected to be emotionally charged or highly technical.

Two years ago, a three-judge panel in Danbury acquitted Donald Krauth in the 1992 cold-case murder of Charles Cromwell of Bethel, in a case that was heavily reliant on DNA evidence.

"I can't be very specific, but there are technical issues related to the legal defense," Russell said. "One of the concerns that (we) have is that because of the grim nature of the evidence and the gripping nature of the crime scene, that might cloud the issues that need a clear eye, and three experienced judges will be more impartial and less emotional than a lay jury."

Police said Dota stabbed Ramirez, 23, in front of their then 4-year-old daughter and Ramirez' cousin in the kitchen of their third-floor apartment on the evening of Aug. 22, 2011. The couple's son, 2 years old at the time, was also in the apartment.

Ramirez' cousin, Eduardo Quinones, told police that his cousin was unhappy in her relationship with Dota and was planning to leave him, but Dota wanted them to remain together, according to the arrest warrant affidavit.

Dota "was saying something like `Now you're going to die,' " as he knelt over Ramirez and stabbed her, Quinones told police in the affidavit.

The four-page document also quotes a Danbury detective as reporting the couple's daughter, the elder of their two children, re-enacted the alleged crime when she was interviewed on the night her mother was killed.

The child said Ramirez was "crying and screaming" as Dota allegedly drew the knife slowly across her neck in the kitchen of the third-floor apartment. The girl simulated the action with her own hands, the affidavit said.

Another reason for seeking a court trial instead of a jury, Russell conceded, is that the victim was an American citizen, while Dota, who came to the United States from Ecuador 11 years earlier, was in the country illegally.

"I don't seriously believe that any person would allow their resentment for any immigrant group to be unfair in an case like this," he said, then added, "If I'm wrong, I don't want to be corrected."

Dota also faces two counts of risk of injury to minors because the children were in the apartment.

Since their mother was killed, the children have been in the custody of their maternal grandmother, Faride Mendez, who lives in Danbury, said attorney Thomas Leaf, who represents Mendez.

"The family feels they want to see justice done," Leaf said. "They've been very patient, because it's a crime of such tremendous impact. But there have been open lines of communication with the prosecutor and they have the utmost faith in her."